


Mess Hall

by glorious_spoon



Series: Hurt/Comfort Bingo 2020 [5]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27820015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_spoon/pseuds/glorious_spoon
Summary: The thing is, Finn gets why people are wary about him. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Poe Dameron/Finn/Rey
Series: Hurt/Comfort Bingo 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809127
Comments: 18
Kudos: 82
Collections: Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 11





	Mess Hall

**Author's Note:**

> For a Tumblr prompt by incognitajones. Also fills the 'ostracized from society' square on my Hurt/Comfort Bingo card.

Finn is pretty sure that it bothers Poe more than it bothers either him or Rey. He’s not even sure Rey is actually aware of the way people shift nervously away from the inhuman supernova of _power_ radiating out of her. She’s already spent so much of her life alone, and loneliness is just normal for her.

Even now, unexpected affection is met with wary suspicion half the time, even from Finn; he’s tactile by nature, the legacy of growing up stacked together with his fellow cadets, but he’s learned to be careful about when and how he touches Rey. She’s just as likely to flinch away from an unexpected hand on her shoulder as she is to lean into it, and he hates to see the stricken look that always climbs onto her face a moment later. They’ve both got broken edges that don’t quite fit together right, but they’ve learned to make it work.

It’s not that it _doesn’t_ bother Finn. Of course it does. He hasn’t spent much of his life alone, and solitude gnaws at him. But he gets it; he gets why even now he tends to get a wide berth from other Resistance members, especially the ones who don’t know him well.

He’s not the first Stormtrooper to defect, nor the last. But he’s probably the most prominent; the one whose face, for better or worse, everyone knows. He knows that people look at him and see the white mask and the blaster, just like he still sometimes flinches reflexively at the sound of an X-wing screaming by overhead, which is something he never plans on telling Poe, ever.

But Poe was raised in the Resistance, surrounded by family and people who loved him. He was raised with the same camaraderie that Finn remembers from the rare unsupervised meal shift on battle stations; more than that, he’s _Poe_ , who loves easily and is easy to love. Who doesn’t know how _not_ to fight for the people he loves.

“Don’t,” Finn says quietly when Poe starts to stand, glaring, after a group of unfamiliar pilots give Finn a pointed look and stand up to move to another table as soon as he sits down. He’s tired right now, and the rejection stings. He’s never been very good at keeping that kind of thing off of his face, and Poe is entirely too perceptive anyway. But he just… he’s so tired. If Poe makes a scene, it’s not going to change anyone’s minds. “Don’t, okay? Let’s just eat.”

Poe scowls, but he sinks back down onto the bench. “They’re assholes.”

“I know,” Finn mumbles into his plate. There’s fresh fruit on it. Sweet green melons peeled and finely sliced, a rare treat shipboard and one he never tasted in all his time with the First Order.

He supposes he probably had fresh fruit as a child, before he was taken, but he doesn’t remember that now.

He pushes the melon around his plate, then folds it into a napkin. His appetite is gone. Rey will appreciate them, anyway.

“Hey,” Poe says, quiet and intense. “Finn, hey, look at me.”

Finn makes a face, but he hasn’t magically developed any resistance to Poe speaking to him in that tone in the time they’ve known each other. From the very beginning, Poe was magnetic. Impossible to look away from. He lifts his head, and Poe settles a gentle hand on the nape of his neck, drawing their foreheads together.

“You’re worth a hundred of them, you know that?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m not worth a hundred trained X-wing pilots,” Finn mumbles, just to be contrary. Poe’s hand feels very warm. His hair is in need of a trim, long enough to brush Finn’s cheek in soft, loose ringlets.

“Finn. Buddy. They’re _assholes_ , okay? And they’re wrong.”

Finn breathes in, feeling the pit in his stomach loosen a little. “I mean, I get it. You know?”

“I know you do, but you shouldn’t have to.” Poe jostles him a little, with such casual, gentle affection that Finn has to squeeze his eyes shut to keep from doing something stupid, like planting a kiss on Poe right here in the middle of the mess hall.

He’s pretty sure Poe would let him do it, is the thing. He’s just… waiting for the right moment. Yeah. And this sure as hell isn’t it.

“Hey,” Poe says again, gently. “You wanna get out of here? I just got a fresh data package, I think there’s some music in there you’ll like.”

Finn swallows, then nods and lets Poe offer him a hand up. He slings an arm over Finn’s shoulder, and doesn’t let go the whole way.


End file.
